Toughie

//ˈtʌfi// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something that is tough, or difficult. informal

    "His question is a toughie. I might have to do some more research."

  2. 2
    a particularly difficult or baffling question or problem wordnet
  3. 3
    Someone or something that is strong and resilient.

    "Sansevieria and aspidistra are two old houseplant toughies that make good indoor choices."

  4. 4
    an aggressive and violent young criminal wordnet
  5. 5
    A tough; Someone or something that acts as a thug or bully.

    "The liberal states, in the present situation, are the "softies"; the Fascist states are the "toughies". And the toughies are always able to get away with "murder" until the softies become tough."

Synonyms

All synonyms
bitchbitchgoonhoodhoodhoodlum

Example

More examples

"That last question was a real toughie."

Etymology

From tough + -ie.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.